Group Now Claims Obama Wasn’t Technically Fundraising For It On Day Of Malaysia Air Plane Crash

As the United States gathered information Thursday about the Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine, President Barack Obama was in New York on a quick fundraising swing with Democratic donors.

But now one of the super PACs that hosted Obama for an event — the House Majority PAC — claims that Obama’s meeting with donors was not technically a fundraiser.

According to a pool report from the event, an official with the House Majority PAC disputed the characterization of the meeting as a fundraiser because there were no tickets or cost of admission for donors.

“The president is appearing at the event only as a featured speaker and special guest, and is not asking for funds or donations,” the official said. “We have invited a select group of [House Majority PAC] supporters to attend.”

The House Majority PAC is a super PAC dedicated to electing Democrats to Congress. While the group says it wasn’t asking for money to attend the event, the main purpose of such events are usually to curry favor with donors in order to raise money.

Prior to attending the House Majority PAC, Obama attended a Democratic National Committee fundraiser Thursday on the Upper West Side at Trump Place Apartments. About 30 supporters, according to the DNC, contributed up to $32,400 to attend.